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While the doors are open it seems Washington remains "closed for business" and nobody has seemed to notice or care. It is difficult to believe the productivity of Washington could drop any lower, and while our elected officials busy themselves with calling for further investigations and making promises of getting to the bottom of this America putters along on autopilot. the article below takes a look at this sad state of affairs.

Ms. Drew is off again into never never land. Quoting "reliable reports", WOPO "news" reports, discussing "obstruction of justice" like she knows what constitutes that (even discounts her own comments on OOJ later in her article. Ms. Drew might gain some credibility if she also reported on some accomplishments supported by FACTS ON THE GROUND for all to see like him completely and positively repositioning our place in the world in record time. This 180 degree turn from Obama is not to Ms. Drew's liking I'm sure and so anything viewed as positive by most open minded members of the political scene goes UNMENTIONED. Ms. Drew, hard to give credence to any of your commentary when your 100% bias stands out so clearly for all to see.

Trump has lied his way to the 45th Presidency with a dirty and populist campaign producing lies, fake news, and the likes. Since his election, Trump has kept producing lies and fake news because serial lying is his way of life and of governing.

Thinking of removing Trump using the 25th amendment will not earn you much respect outside your Obamaniac comfort zone.

VP Pence is clearly much more ambitious than Cheney was at the time, but unmistakably much less competent than the Maquiavelo of modern times.

The public does not think Trump is mentally unfit. The 25th amendment is only about that, mind you. It is not about how much you dislike a President's manners or haircut.

And if the Deep State is all in for a covered coup using the 25th amendment, they should first and foremost induce a big economic crisis while at the same time publicly fabricate a mentally unfit President narrative, to tilt public opinion towards an "inevitable" replacement. And that will not happen overnight.

In a worst case scenario, if the Deep State was all in for a replacement through a Dealey Plaza type of event, GOD FORBID, the US would sink into banana republic territory for decades. And a five letter word would take world leadership before Pence was sworn in. C-H-I-N-A. May the Lord be with us in such a case.

Loose talk fiddling about with the highest ranked political institution of the republic indicates you only accept the rules when you get the desired result. And throws little to none respect for the people that worked hard (and died) to build the republic over +240 years.

Potential obstruction of justice - plausible. But Trump's entire mindset is that of a bad-tempered CEO; he simply doesn't understand that he's no longer playing a game whose rules he can amend at whim. But, ok, ignorance of the law is famously no defense!

AS to the 'leak' - come on. News of it came from the very sources that are supposed to protect against leaks! If it's as I understand, T mentioned that some wicked persons were attempting to make bombs out of laptops. This was so secret that it had been openly discussed for months, and in consequence there's at least a partial ban on using them on planes! AS to the source of the 'secret', that it was Israel was revealed by those with knives out for T, rather than T himself. So much for 'secrecy'.

Probably the worst of Trump's errors in personal terms was the strategic one of pissing off all 16 of the acknowledged intelligence gathering agencies at once! Nixon had only a single 'Deep Throat' to plague him. Trump has a croaking chorus of haters after him! Coordinating between themselves, even.

Which of course is highly amusing in terms of his past manipulation of hate to his advantage.

Beware all those who say the government is 'just another company to be run in the time honored ways.' It isn't!!

Elizabeth Drew thinks Trump is not "a quitter" and can't be persuaded to leave the White House, even though he at times "looks miserable in the job." Indeed, Trump is a narcissist and "often expresses great pride, and a certain wonder, that he won." A former businessman, he is aware of the perks and "amenities" of his current job. Besides he and his family are greedy, knowing how much the Trump brand benefits from his presidency.
Following recent events, with leaks streaming out every day and the entailing investigations into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, the author says "Trump’s longevity in office is now the most hotly debated topic in Washington." It's true that "even before these latest troubling stories broke, a large number of congressional Republicans viewed Trump as a threat to the country and their party." GOP leaders still hope that they could get tax cuts done, before getting rid of him.
Perhaps Trump knows it, and delays the filling of key posts and hundreds of vacancies. He believes this tactics would allow him to hang onto power as long as possible, but it is also self-sabotage. He also panders to Fox News and other far-right media outlets, hoping that as long as they continue to back him, he can still count on his supporters to prevent the GOP from dumping him. Last week Fox News host Bret Baier sought to book a few Republicans to talk about Trump's firing of ex-FBI director, James Comey and investigations into Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. To his surprise, no congressional Republicans were willing to go on air and defend Trump.
Trump doesn't know anything about geopolitics nor does he want to understand how to conduct foreign policy. He has no interest in learning about government, constitutional values and the rule of law - all dreary subjects for him. In the face of the greatest challenge in his entire life, he complains about being victim of a "witch-hunt" and urges his supporters to go on fighting for him. As he adopts this pot-calling-the-kettle-black hypocrisy, he forgets that he has himself to blame for his own mistakes and failures.
Despite the smell of impeachment in the air, many say it's politically unrealistic to see Trump impeached, given the GOP majority in Congress. Nor would the 25th Amendment be useful, because it would take the vice-president, Mike Pence to declare Trump unfit for fulfilling the duties of office. This is also "an unlikely scenario" because once again it requires "the backing of a majority of the cabinet or the Congress."
Indeed, Trump has turned out to be the full-fledged disaster of many Americans' worst fears. They wonder what to do with him, seeing the situation as unsustainable for a full four-year term. If something cannot go on forever, it has to stop. Meanwhile autocratic leaders around the world, who Trump admires, are smugly happy that the US is lurching from one crisis into another, stuck in a political morass.

@M M MAY 20, 2017: "He has won the elections by playing the rules of the game".

Ex-FBI Director Robert Mueller-led investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia has tagged a current White House senior official as a “significant person of interest”.

The Trump campaign has hired Cambridge Analytica to politically microtarget voters using its data mining and data analysis technologies with a view of changing U.S. voters' behaviors, which has occurred at the same time the Russians interfering in the U.S. electoral process.

And Trump's chief strategist - Stephen Bannon - who was the executive chairman of the far-right online media Breibart and vice president of Cambridge Analytica owned by Robert Mercer, a major supporter of Trump's 2016 campaign for president and Brexit in the United Kingdom.

MH, regrettably democracy is what it is, thus the nationalistic movements and the people that pray on them. To avoid a repeat of the last elections, one needs a new system otherwise this same system can only produce the same if not worst characters.

The fact that Trump has admitted he was thinking of “this Russia thing” when deciding the pre-emptive move of dismissal of Comey amounts to an obstruction of justice under

- the 18 U.S. Code § 1503 - Influencing or injuring officer or juror generally, which states: " (a) Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, endeavors to influence, intimidate, or impede any grand or petit juror, or officer in or of any court of the United States, or officer who may be serving at any examination or other proceeding before any United States magistrate judge or other committing magistrate, in the discharge of his duty, or injures any such grand or petit juror in his person or property on account of any verdict or indictment assented to by him, or on account of his being or having been such juror, or injures any such officer, magistrate judge, or other committing magistrate in his person or property on account of the performance of his official duties, or corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b). If the offense under this section occurs in connection with a trial of a criminal case, and the act in violation of this section involves the threat of physical force or physical force, the maximum term of imprisonment which may be imposed for the offense shall be the higher of that otherwise provided by law or the maximum term that could have been imposed for any offense charged in such case."

and under

- the 18 U.S. Code § 1505 - Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees, which states: "Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—

Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both."

On Tuesday, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) said on CNN that Trump may have committed an “impeachable offense” if he did in fact try to stop an FBI investigation. On Wednesday, Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green formally called for Trump’s impeachment on the House floor. On the same day, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) also said if the details in the Comey memo are true, Trump’s conduct would be grounds for impeachment.

All those statements point to one direction: Trump is becoming a GOP liability ?

MH, and how helpful is it going to be the process of impeachment to the people and to the country? He has won the elections by playing the rules of the game, many do not like it, but this is the way it is. If anything needs changing it is the system and he was voted in on this same platform. So no point in carrying on with this vindictveness strategy that shallbbe counter productive and make matters worst to everyone and to the economy at large. It is always easy to change people, but extremely difficult to change the system.

Yesterday, a respected colomnist wrote of Trump, " ...A man with a deformed personality and a defective intellect runs a dysfunctional administration — a fact finally visible even to its most ardent admirers...". Didn't he threaten Hilary in the second debate that he would appoint a prosecutor to lock her up? Let us ignore his self pity, paranoia, midnight tweets and antics for a while and wait and see how he is going to create jobs in America!

Hillary has no business complaining about losing the electoral college vote. Her husband also won the college vote without a popular mandate.
Sound familiar? The Dems are just poor losers and will create a whole school of losers in the media etc. Trump has zrero % chance of being impeached. He's making sure of that by carrying out the GOP agenda, which was not his mantra while campaigning. It just has to be now, but perhaps he will return to it later?

PK, "Didn't he threaten Hilary in the second debate that he would appoint a prosecutor to lock her up?". That's apparently true. However, after the election he urged that no further action be taken against Hillary. That's a rather clear case of "obstruction of justice".

Strangely, the media and the Democrats didn't protest at all or suggest impeachment. It would appear that "obstruction of justice" is only a "real" crime when the Democrats don't benefit.

Whose fault it is? Whose merit? Trump imperfections ? A divided nation? A depleting planet? Disruption by social networks? Asian's prowess? So on... but things will stabilize when a new Cold War emerges, wherein common interests, supranational ones, would prevail on personal ones . Check the Roman Empire, destroyed by internal rivalries after only 500 of supremacy (and also check the Byzantine Empire, which lasted close to 1,400 years).

I find it concerning that Trump warning the Russians of terrorist plans to attack civillian filghts is some how treachery towards the US. Are the democrats and "honourable" republicans saying that Russia should not share with the US intel of threats of terrorist attacks against US and european civilians.

GC, I think you may be missing the plot here. The media claim is that releasing classified material to the Russians is, per se, a treasonable offense. No less than Lawrence Tribe claimed that Trump's giving of information to the Russians was treason and this absurd statement was repeated uncritically by the media. Numerous other media and political figures have also used the “treason” word in the same context. This is absurd. The U.S. is not at war with Russia and the Constitution sets a specific standard for what constitutes treason.

Would it have been better for Trump to have simply promised the Russians information and then released it through channels? Perhaps. However, the only contentious aspect of what he actually told them was the location of one city. Even the former head of the CIA (John Brennan appointed by Obama) has stated that the media has done far more damage to American intelligence interests with stories about the Trump / Russians meeting than Trump did. Does that make the media guilty of treason? As I said, we are not at war with Russia.

Perhaps going through channels would be better than direct disclosures by the President. However, ultimately Presidents are responsible for diplomacy. Obama tried to “reset” our relations with Russia and failed. Trump is trying a different approach. Will it succeed? Who knows. However, the Bush/Obama tactics clearly did not work.

The bottom line here should be easy to understand. Giving classified information to the Russians may or may not be a good idea (Obama regretted it). However, it is not “treason”, an impeachable offense, or even a crime of any kind.

I think you really need to read and understand Kent Harrington's article here. If Trump was concerned about protecting Russian commercial flights (rather than just anxious to puff himself up to the Russians as "the guy in the know"), the right way to go about it would have been to ask the Israeli's to inform the Kremlin themselves -- if it was, in their view, appropriate.

No one is suggesting "treachery" on the part of Donald Trump. Only a severe lack of judgement -- or ego-driven stupidity -- on the man's part.

The Obama administration provided classified information to the Russians... And came to regret it as it turns out. Was that an impeachable offense? Actually, the Obama administration wasn't even criticized for a decision (to release classified information to the Russians) that the administration later had occasion to regret.

GC, I think you may be missing the plot here. The media claim is that releasing classified material to the Russians is, per se, a treasonable offense. No less than Lawrence Tribe claimed that Trump's giving of information to the Russians was treason and this absurd statement was repeated uncritically by the media. Numerous other media and political figures have also used the “treason” word in the same context. This is absurd. The U.S. is not at war with Russia and the Constitution sets a specific standard for what constitutes treason.

Would it have been better for Trump to have simply promised the Russians information and then released it through channels? Perhaps. However, the only contentious aspect of what he actually told them was the location of one city. Even the former head of the CIA (John Brennan appointed by Obama) has stated that the media has done far more damage to American intelligence interests with stories about the Trump / Russians meeting than Trump did. Does that make the media guilty of treason? As I said, we are not at war with Russia.

Perhaps going through channels would be better than direct disclosures by the President. However, ultimately Presidents are responsible for diplomacy. Obama tried to “reset” our relations with Russia and failed. Trump is trying a different approach. Will it succeed? Who knows. However, the Bush/Obama tactics clearly did not work.

The bottom line here should be easy to understand. Giving classified information to the Russians may or may not be a good idea (Obama regretted it). However, it is not “treason”, an impeachable offense, or even a crime of any kind.

But the Obama administration went through the normal vetting process before releasing that intelligence -- unlike Trump, who merely shot off his mouth while being in a grab for some ego inflation -- while being apparently completely ignorant of the possible consequences of his actions.

There's a very important difference there that seems strangely opaque to Trump's supporters that perhaps psychologists can explain. It's certainly beyond my power to understand.

Ms Drew where were you when the Obama Administration sent A billion and half of unmarked currency to Iran in the middle of the night? Oh, and why dont you write an article on the now defunct Clinton Foundation, I wonder if it still would be open if HRC won the election.

In case folks have forgotten this... Obama publicly declared that Hillary's misuse of her Email system was not a crime worthy of indictment. That was not his judgement to make. With his public statements on behalf of Hillary, Obama was interfering with the ongoing criminal investigation of Hillary.

Was Obama impeached and removed from office? Did Elizabeth Drew demand his ouster?

"Here’s what I know: Hillary Clinton was an outstanding secretary of state. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy. …

"I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America’s national security. Now what I’ve also said is that — and she has acknowledged — that there’s a carelessness, in terms of managing emails, that she has owned, and she recognizes.

"But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective. This is somebody who has served her country for four years as secretary of state, and did an outstanding job. And no one has suggested that in some ways, as a consequence of how she’s handled emails, that that detracted from her excellent ability to carry out her duties."

That's a guarded public endorsement of her. Not a request to shut down the investigation.

Actually, no there are not. The language of the Constitution is clear.

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

I appreciate the lack of hyperbole in this article, but there are a number of things wrong.

1) Trump giving Russia classified information.

a) The President has this right
b) Everything is classified. Trump didn't give Russia our nuclear codes. This is the news running a salacious headline.
c) McMaster came out and absolutely destroyed this idea that Trump gave something out of the norm
d) Russia is not our enemy
e) The information was related to airline safety and this laptop bomb issue that has been PUBLICALLY reported for weeks ago
f) Russia lost a civilian airline because of a soda can bomb in Egypt.

2) Flynn - Two things that ended Flynn.

a) Logan Act - this is a pure technicality. Flynn reach out to his counter part in Russia after Trump won. His message was that things would change and it would be a more collaborative relationship. The Logan Act says citizens cannot negotiate treaties, etc. Because Trump was not the President, Flynn was still a private citizen.

Obviously, this is a technicality. The Logan Act applies in spirit to you and I. Flynn, selected and waiting to perform his duties was reaching out preemptively to let a major nuclear power know that the Trump administration would look to cooperate with Russia.

b) Flynn was paid $45K for a speaking engagement by RT that he failed to disclose. Bad and wrong, but if a former general about to take a senior role in the White House can be bought for $45K, please let me know where I can send the check.

Furthermore, as soon as Flynn stepped down, he was paid $500K to help Turkey in a lobbying fashion. The point is $45K is NOTHING to this guy.

3) Comey - Pres. Trump valued loyalty (why he selected Flynn) and asked Comey 2 times to stop the investigation. Per Comey's comments, this request wasn't forceful or backed up by a threat. Trump then fired Comey, as is his right. The FBI has testified on record that they have sufficient funding and the White House has not interfered in this "investigation"

Conclusion - If I was Trump I would be yelling also. Republicans complain for 8 years they want to repeal Obamacare and Trump makes it his campaign promise. Republicans then look like fools when they can't get a bill put together.

You have judged legislating from the bench, using campaign statements to infer motive for a lawful Presidential act (something not done before). You have Democrats and the media 24/7 acting to undermine a presidency because the idea of working to bring jobs back to Americans, cut taxes and otherwise stimulate an actual, physical recovery is so repulsive that they are willing to sink this country to take out Trump.

This is how it plays out. Dems go for impeachment. This will take over a year with how slow things work. The US markets will realize nothing is getting done and all the baked in price appreciation related to the expected tax cuts will evaporate and the markets will sell off. The Fed has spent all their dry powder and will be unable to stimulate the economy. Russia will have been so demonized and China will be so empowered, that they will become far more brazen, especially at a time when the USA is suffering from both an economic and political downturn.

Trump might not be optimal, but throwing the entire nation into a state of turmoil to overturn the person the people of this country elected is a suicidal path to be taken. And guess what. Pence will push for the same economic policies as Trump and will bring all the negative social policies found from a former governor who supported electro-shocking homosexuals.

Evidence? You might consider it, dare I use the term - haven't used it anywhere yet, "fake news". It might not be court-of-law standard evidence. But there is plenty of smoke and where there is smoke there is fire. If you want to ignore it that's your business. If you don't mind the Russians meddling (to say the least) in your elections that's your business. There are all kinds of reports around Trump and his administration's connections to the Russian regime, that if true, border on the treasonous. Why was Flynn sacked (effectively), why was Comey sacked? If these matters don't raise questions in your mind then then I can only speculate as to why they don't. If I was an American I would be mightily concerned about Russian influence in and manipulation of the US government. To believe the Russians have benign intentions, is patently ludicrous. Time will tell as the various FBI and House investigations proceed.

In the US the "evidence" that ties Russia to the election is some Russian language left in the hacker code for the DNC emails. Those emails showed that HRC and the DNC colluded to screw over Sanders. Nothing with the election.

As for the French election, I cannot speak towards that. I am sure Russia would prefer to see political parties that are favorable towards them (as does all nations) and in Europe it might be easier for the lesser known right-wing parties to receive funding, but this idea that the RNC and Trump were bought and paid for by Putin is comical.

Furthermore, the US has real enemies in this world. Russia, China, etc, are nations acting in their best interest. Does Russia want more than we want to give? Sure. Does the USA want more than Russia wants to give? Sure. The point is 1) Russia is not our enemy (as compared to say North Korea, ISIL, maybe Iran) and 2) there are areas where the USA and Russia and work together on.

If you look at a country as either friend or foe then your approach towards them is limited. If you look at other nations as independent countries looking to maximize their utility, you see things much differently.

Stunning claim given the mounting evidence that connects direct Russian interference in the political process including payments to political operatives. It is reported that Russian made payments of millions to the Le Pen campaign in France. To believe that this is all benign Russian support for the democratic process in the West is at best naive and self deceiving.

A stage artist may have the inability to stop-acting. May have the compulsion to attract the lights and attention of his public. Out of his control, along with a keen sensibility to carry it on, to sense the mood and passions of his public. The knack to turn them on. What more glorious than giving others the experience of an untainted leader, real, present. The ultimate staging act.